Interchange Recharged

This week, the history and future of Tesla Energy.Back in 2006, Elon Musk posted a manifesto outlining his vision for a high-end sports car that would push unit volume and lower costs. It also included hints about an integrated company that will sell solar and batteries alongside cars.More than a dozen years later, that vision is being put to the test. After launching a distributed and grid-scale battery business, acquiring SolarCity and then launching a half-baked solar roof, Tesla’s energy services division faces a questionable future.Battery delays are a problem, the company is no longer a major solar player, solar roof production is feeble, and Tesla is moving entirely to online sales.So what exactly is Tesla Energy?We’re going to revisit the chronology and explore where it’s all headed.Recommended reading:Bloomberg: Did Elon Musk Forget About Buffalo?Listen to our earlier episode with Tesla’s grid storage architect, Mateo Jaramillo.Fast Company: The Real Story Behind Elon Musk’s $2.6 Billion Acquisition Of SolarCity GTM: What Happens to Tesla’s Solar Business as Retail Stores Close and Sales Go Online?The Interchange is supported by Wunder Capital. Listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in the Interchange feed or find it here.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Distributed energy resources (DERs) are going to double on the U.S. grid by 2023, according to our researchers at Wood Mackenzie. By then, we’ll likely have somewhere around 100 gigawatts of flexible capacity — made up of distributed solar, combined heat and power, electric vehicles, smart thermostats, and battery storage. Those technologies alone could amount to the current bulk power system in Texas.Today, utilities are less likely to see those DERs purely as a threat. But figuring out how to manage all those resources is still a monumental challenge.Now that we’re squarely in the middle of this doubling of DERs, how do we get markets right? This is an age-old question that many are working to answer — and we think it’s a good time revisit it.We’re joined by Andy Lubershane, senior director of research at Energy Impact Partners, for a wide-ranging discussion about DERs from the utility perspective: the state of DERs, how they fit into utility operations, and whether better pricing can actually help.This conversation was adapted from Andy’s article on the subject. Read his analysis here.The Interchange is supported by Wunder Capital. Don’t forget to listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in the Interchange feed or find it here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Shayle and Stephen stumble into career counseling. There are now 3.4 million people in America working in clean energy, spanning across transportation, renewable energy, energy efficiency, environmental services and many other related areas.It’s a big number. But it also means there are tens of millions of others with the right skills or the desire who haven’t yet joined the advanced energy economy.We’ve gotten numerous career questions from listeners — some starting careers, some later in careers, and some in consumer tech looking to find a more meaningful job addressing climate change. This week, we’re going to address some of them, using our own experience and drawing from others.We’ll hear from Nicole, an anonymous manager in tech who is looking for a way into the field.We’ll hear from Astrid Atkinson, a former senior Google engineer who quit her job to start an energy software company.We’ll hear from Mark Hughes, an engineer at Sila Nanotechnologies, who offers some advice on finding your unique voice.And we’ll speak with Liz Dalton, executive director of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute, about the many pathways into the industry.Looking for some more resources? Here are a few we mentioned on the show:Greentech Media’s newslettersThe Clean Energy Leadership InstituteJobs With ImpactWomen in Cleantech and SustainabilityYoung Professionals in EnergyA list of renewable energy trade groupsDon’t forget to listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in the Interchange feed or find it here. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we present an original podcast episode, brought to you by Wunder Capital. This is the third part of our three-part series produced with Wunder.In this episode, we’ll hear the story of Dave Riess, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Wunder.Well before co-founding Wunder, Dave found himself in a tricky spot. Even after building a successful career in software development, he was uninspired: “I’m working really hard solving these problems and fundamentally I'm helping big brands spend money more effectively on Facebook. And, nobody cares about that, including me.”So Dave created a framework for evaluating his career path. And it took him in an entirely new direction into solar.“The framework is quite simple. If I’m going to characterize myself by the work that I do, then why would I not work on the most important problem?”Dave eventually landed on energy, education and health care as the main problems to solve. “Energy, in my opinion, is the obvious winner of those three. You can have a fantastic education system and a fantastic health care system, but if you don’t have a planet to live on it’s not a very bright future.”So how did he establish the framework? And how did he make the decisions that ultimately led him to co-found Wunder? This week, we present an episode about first principles: we cover the value of the beginner’s mind; 10x problem solving; and how to design a career, a product, and a startup team with intention.Listen to our other episodes produced with Wunder:Meet the Women Doing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Solar DealsHow a Solar Bromance Cracked the Code for Commercial SolarWunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After a long downturn, cleantech venture capital investments are back on the upswing.According to year-end numbers from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, venture and private equity investments into the sector grew 127 percent in 2018 over the previous year, amounting to $9.2 billion. That is the highest total since 2010.Years after venture capital plummeted in 2012 — when investors ran from clean technologies after getting burned by bad bets — we’re seeing a new wave of activity. Oil majors, billionaires and a wide range of corporations are getting in on the action. And there’s a wide range of new funds focusing on both software- and hardware-specific startups.So, is this spurt of activity different from the last one? For one, fewer people are using the term "cleantech."This week, we're joined by Abe Yokell, managing partner at Congruent Ventures. He and our co-host Shayle Kann, a senior VP of research and strategy at Energy Impact Partners, will talk about the changing landscape for venture capital. In this episode, we'll address:What went wrong for VCs in the first cleantech boom? What should we have learned from that wave? Should we still call it "cleantech"? Are we in a new cleantech VC renaissance? What's the current state of supply/demand for capital for a cleantech startup? How much does it vary by stage?What to make of a few new classes of major entrants: utilities, oil majors, incubators/accelerators, and long-horizon investors.How should the risk of a looming recession impact this market?Where to funds get their capital, and what is the appetite for LPs to deploy capital into the space?Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Desperation has taken hold in climate policy. People are so anxious to do something meaningful, allies are fighting against each other over the solutions. Is the right approach a Green New Deal to re-engineer the energy and labor markets with renewable energy? Or is it better to just price carbon in order to allow all kinds of technologies and carbon mitigation efforts to flourish?We need both, says Hal Harvey, the CEO of Energy Innovation. In this episode, we’ll get beyond the tribalism and look at the suite of policies that will decarbonize the economy quickly and cost-effectively.We’re going to talk about Hal’s new book, “Designing Climate Solutions: A Policy Guide for Low-Carbon Energy.”Topics we’ll cover on the podcast:The Green New Deal and the reliance on renewables as a climate strategy. How far does the wind-solar-water plan get us? The debate about the effectiveness and elegance of a carbon tax. Is it really the end-all solution?The most under-appreciated climate policy.The role of nuclear and seasonal storage.Hal’s reaction to our choices for the deep decarbonization draft picks.Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As the trend toward electrification speeds up, what type of company will dominate the market?We're hosting a cage match to find out.On this week's episode of The Interchange, we pit utilities, oil & gas majors, mobility providers and consumer tech companies against one another. We're throwing them inside a voice-activated, electrified cage to see who will emerge as the energy company of the future.Throughout this episode, we are trying to answer a straightforward-yet-complicated question: who is best positioned to win the long-term power game?To set up the match, we’re going to profile each competitor and look at the evidence for their competitive edge.Then, we’ll ring the bell. We’ll address the following: How might each competitor win? What areas will they be strongest in? What are their weaknesses? What will their dominance look like?We’ll finish with some post-match color commentary and make our picks for the winner.Don't forget to give The Interchange a rating and creative review on Apple podcasts for your chance to win a yearly subscription to GTM Squared!Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After a period of moderation, heat trapping gases are going up in the U.S. and around the world. In 2018, global emissions rose by 2.7 percent. And U.S. emissions rose by 3.4 percent, according to an early tally from the Rhodium Group.This week, we're going to put some meaning to those emissions numbers. We are joined by Brad Plumer, an energy and environment reporter at the New York Times, who will help us dig into each sector.We will answer the following questions:Why aren't wind and solar making up for coal closures?Which sectors are becoming the worst emitters?Will the "Trump bump" accelerate the emissions trend in the medium term?If we were king/dictator/wizard for a day, what sector would we address first?Don't forget to give The Interchange a rating and creative review on Apple podcasts for your chance to win a yearly subscription to GTM Squared!Read along with us:Rhodium Group: Preliminary US Emissions Estimates for 2018NYT: U.S. Carbon Emissions Surged in 2018 Even as Coal Plants ClosedNYT: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accelerate Like a ‘Speeding Freight Train’ in 2018Follow us on Twitter: @InterchangeShowSupport for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we present a special episode brought to you by the Energy News Network.We profile State Senator Bob Steinburg, a local North Carolina politician who spent a lot of time in his republican primary campaign talking about the benefits of renewable energy. We also talk with Elizabeth Outzs, a journalist at the Energy News Network, who covered Steinburg’s campaign.“What we’re seeing in the way politicians are behaving and the way that people are responding to these polls is that clean energy is increasingly like mom and apple pie,” says Ouzts.Read Elizabeth’s story about the campaign here. For plenty more in-depth coverage on the clean energy transition in the Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, and West, head on over to energynews.us.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Forget everything you think you know about solar.A growing body of research and real-world experience shows that solar can be a flexible, dispatchable resource. And it can potentially rival gas plants in providing grid regulation services — without the use of batteries.We’ve had the technology to allow solar and wind to provide grid services for years. So how do we open up markets to unleash their full potential?In this episode, we’ll look at some new modeling from First Solar, E3 and Tampa Electric Company that outlines how to use utility-scale solar power plants for spinning reserves, load following, voltage support, and frequency response. (Read Colin Meehan's tweet storm about the report, mentioned on the show.)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.